Online Town Hall

The City of Guelph has completed Envision Guelph – the City’s Official Plan update. The document will guide residential, employment, and commercial development, natural and cultural heritage conservation and the city’s transportation and energy systems over the next 20 years.

The 300-page document is available for public review. City Council is asking for comments and will hear presentations from the public during a meeting on May 20 at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers.

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(Originally Printed in the Guelph Mercury, “Sightlines” – by Unto Kihlanki )

This past Monday, largely due to the efforts of Coun. Mike Salisbury, Guelph city council decided not to turn the city’s recently acquired building at 152-158 Wyndham St. into a parking lot, at least not yet. They voted to investigate the option of renovating it for other possible interim uses while we wait for the day, perhaps quite distant, when it is slated to become part of the proposed new central library.

Good for our council. The merchants currently located along Wyndham must be breathing a long collective sigh of relief. A gaping hole in the fabric of the existing frontage is the last thing they need now, as they struggle to maintain a semblance of commercial vitality on their street.

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Bravo for creating arts, culture post

By Renann Isaacs, curator, Alma Gallery, Guelph

Dear Editor – Re: “Need for cultural post debated” (Guelph Mercury, Dec. 19).

Hooray for Mike Salisbury and the six other councillors who voted in support of creating a much needed position for an arts and culture supervisor. I can’t believe Guelph has been without one.

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One of the benefits of living in the ward I represent is noticing the small things that need attention. One of those “small things” can now be crossed off my list.

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I recently attended the Making Cities Liveable conference in Portland. When I arrived at the airport I had a choice between a $40 + cab fare to my downtown hotel or taking the light rail rapid transit which conveniently stopped right in the airport terminal.  My direct commute to downtown Portland took only minutes, brought me to within one block of my hotel and cost me less than five bucks. For the rest of my stay I took transit anywhere I wanted to go in the downtown absolutely FREE, no charge, zero dollars…nothing.

City of Portland is one of the most progressive urban environments in North America. The entire city is serviced by a system of light rail and transit so effectively that there is a noticeable absence of cars in the downtown core. With a population of just over 500 thousand people in the City of Portland the question on everyone’s mind was, “How can they afford this”

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Transit Services recently announced the need to change from our existing 30 minute service during peak times to a 40 minute service. The change is more an admittance of the reality of our current situation rather than a policy change, nevertheless it appears that at the very point when the most people need public transit we are not able to accommodate them very effectively.

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The public has until August 13 to comment on the application by River Valley Developments Inc. to change a licence condition that would allow it to extract twice as much limestone from the former Guelph Dolime site west of the Hanlon Expressway.

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The Ministry of Transportation announced this week that it is moving forward with plans to build a new, four-lane highway between Kitchener and Guelph to reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and accommodate growth.

Ironically, while the Ontario government committed to supporting improved transit system to run through the urban cores of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo… the more than 21,000 commuters who travel daily between Kitchener and Guelph will be encouraged to drive their cars.

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In 2005 City Council amended the zoning bylaw to define body rub parlours as a specific land use, then proceeded not to include this new zone within the master plan for our city.

The council of that day naively thought that this would keep our city free from this type of business; however a recent newspaper article indicated that we now have eight body rub parlours in town… about the same number of Tim Horton’s outlets.

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The Guelph Development Priorities Plan (DPP) provides a multi-year forecast of development activity and is used to manage growth in a balanced and sustainable manner.

At the inaugural meeting of the Community Development and Environmental Services Committee, I brought forward a resolution referring the DPP back to city staff. ‘to report back in March with possible strategies to curb sprawl’ within this year’s development priorities plan.

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